2 Peter 1:7,8-11 Lesson 2 Part 1

Continuing where we left off last week…

• [2Pe 1:7] and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
• • Brotherly affection.
  • • 1 John 3:14. We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.
    • 1 Peter 1:22-25. Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you. So, here we see brotherly love as a direct response to believing the Gospel. It is an action. Sola Fide, as RC Sproul is faith alone, but a faith that is not alone. In other words, our works testify of our possession of faith.
    • Romans 12:10 equates this concept with “showing honor.” It is definitely something you do.
    • 1 John 3:16 says to “lay down our lives for the brothers.” From this, we can see that, according to John MacArthur, that brotherly love is “a mutual sacrifice for one another.
    • COMMENT. Our godliness is not true godliness without affection for those who are fellow members of Christ’s body. We are not above our brothers. The only true “firstborn” is Christ, and what did he do? Lord it over us? No, he laid down his life for us. Therefore, we are to also die to ourselves, love our father with a love that makes our love toward everything else look like hatred in comparison, and yet show a special love toward the other members of Christ’s body.
  • Love.
  • • What does love do? It does not work if one has an abstract, words-only concept of love. In the words of the great theologians, DC Talk, “Love is a verb.”
    • For the knowing Christian, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 is the first place to go.  This list embodies may of the components given here in this list of faith supplements. There are positive ways to perform love, and negative ways to perform love:
    • • Positively, love is patient, kind, rejoices in the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
      • Negatively, love does not envy or boast, it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing. Love does not end.
    • What are ways that we mutually sacrifice for each other as brethren? ASIDE: I use the word brethren as a gender-neutral word for my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
• [2Pe 1:8] For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• • Are yours. King James renders it “in you.” The Greek text actually says “you.” “If these qualities are you…”
  • • As you supplement your faith with these characteristics…As they become the fabric of who you are…as you continue to grow in these qualities...
  • These qualities are not without you. Works can be without. Take our Matthew 7 passage from last week. "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?”
  • Isaiah 29:13. This people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men…
  • These qualities are borne of our faith in Jesus. They begin in our hearts and minds. Though we can see the outward fruit of their presence, they are nonetheless something that borne from someone who has the mind of Christ.
  • • The church is sometimes referred to as the “hands and feet of Christ.” Only the church that has the “mind of Christ” can be the church that is “the hands and feet” of Christ. Everything starts with right thinking, right doctrine. Oftentimes, I see people use this statement as a way to distance themselves from doctrine, or right teaching. Our motivations, the basis for everything we do must have our foundations in the Holy Scriptures. As a side note, take our newly devised Mission and Vision Statement which is being rolled out to all ministry teams. It is not an infallible document. It might have interpretative errors and challenges attached to it. However, as the session and staff have prayed and sought wisdom from Holy Writ regarding the focus of our church, we have come up with several statements that are the basis for our actions. They do not necessarily define specific actions. This statement acts as a sort of filter through which we can see if a particular action in our church is something that fits where we are headed.
    • Why do I bring this up? It acts as a kind of foundation for everything Saddlerock does, whether it is the kind of ministry teams we have going, our leadership model, etc. How much more should God’s Word become the filter through which we “live and move and have our being.” The further we distance ourselves from it, the easier it will be to stray from it, and the spiritually fatter we make ourselves.
    • The entire point of this is, we, as the adopted sons and daughters of God the Father, have responsibilities. As I said last week, we become paying members of the household. Sacrifice is a work, but it is a work borne of our faith in Jesus. It does not determine our salvation but does seem to direct our sanctification, our growth in holiness.
    • I once heard a professional sound technician describe the phrase “sacrifice of praise” as “please sacrifice the sound of your voice for the benefit of others.” In other words, those of you who sound good, sing louder. Those of you that do not sound good, sing with your inside voice. That was actually said!
    • In truth, as Christians, we should sacrifice our pride and sing whether we want to or not. We are commanded to sing. So, let us sing with glad hearts! I hear louder and much less talented singers at Seattle Sounders games. Why is it that we do not have this mind among us? In fact, maybe we should paint our faces? Hear this excerpt from The Pursuit of the Holy. In it, Simon Ponsonby explains how other cultures, even subcultures in our own country, exercise a “non-divine notion of holiness.” See if this doesn’t hit us right where it hurts.
    • • Think about a game of soccer. There is no mention of a God, but it clearly exhibits all the signs of liturgy and sacrament for those who attend a holy event. The people gather together at their cathedral (the stadium) and, wearing their Sunday best (team colors, scarves and shirts), already feel involved in something bigger than the sum of its parts. They sit together and sing their worship (soccer chants). Then comes the moment of awe as the religious drama begins: The priests (players) gather on the Holy of Holies (field), and the liturgy of sacrifice begins at the referee’s whistle. The offering (ball) is maneuvered to the altar (net) with the anticipation of a sacrifice (goal), at which the religious ecstasy of the crowd explodes in cheers. And the opposing team and their fans would presumably be the profane. Clearly, for many who attend, the match follows a very religious structure between sacred and profane, and for those involved, it has the sense of being a holy time without any sense of the divine!
      • What are believers to make of this? Rather than agree that a soccer game is a sense of the holy without a need for the divine, I would suggest we are looking here at a search for the divine and the holy that has gone astray and been misplaced in the secular. While a view of a soccer game as a spiritual event may be a helpful insight into how societies structure themselves in what may be seen as religious acts, this view really doesn’t get to the heart of biblical holiness. Holiness is more likely to generate unease or even fear in people.
    • Do people in our church, both believer and unbelievers, sense this “greater than me” concept? While we are to exhibit self-control, does that mean we are on the one hand, dull, boring, uninteresting, or on the other hand full of ecstasy, cheering and dramatic? I don’t know. But, I do know that many do not experience the awe and wonder of worshiping and living for the risen Christ. And yet, Paul states that practicing these stated qualities keep us from being ineffective or unfruitful. Where do we go from here?
  • Again, as we make every effort to supplement our faith with these qualities do they keep us from being ineffective or unfruitful.
  • I think of, well, myself! Not what you’re thinking. How many times have I started some sort of workout routine only to give up because of all the mental fortitude it takes to carry it out to completion. In order for me to experience its true benefits, I must regularly and consistently exercise.
• [2Pe 1:9] For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
• • Lacks. Galatians 5:23, James 2:14-26.
  • • Gal. 5:23. For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
    • • The converse of self-giving love, a love that is only concerned with giving might be this verse. It is expecting something in return. Aren’t many children to be trained out of this concept of using people merely as toys? “Since you are useful to me, I will be your friend. Once you cease to be useful, I will no longer be kind to you.”
      • There may be other points of application, but Paul specifically contrasts using Christ’s freedom as an opportunity for the flesh with serving one another through love.
    • James 2:14-16.
    • • What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
      • Again, Christian love is proven through our actions. If we know we have been loved by Christ and accepted by God (not vice versa), we will prove it with what we do. Here, Paul’s example is a member of Christ’s family in need of clothes and food and sending them away with an empty prayer of blessing without supporting them. I don’t think we are guilty of this, but let us be ever mindful to be caring for our brothers and sisters.
  • Blind. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, 1 John 2:9-11, Revelation 3:14-22
  • • 2 Cor. 4:3-4. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
    • • We, by our own desires, have allowed the god of this world to blind our minds. He doesn’t forcibly prevent us from seeing and worshiping Christ. By continually rejecting the terms of Jesus, we, in a sense, take the hands of Satan and hold them over “the eyes of our hearts.”
    • 1 John 2:9-11.
    • • Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
      • A clear outplaying of being blind and “in the dark.” We hate our brothers. Is there any lukewarmness here? No, he called the church of Laodicea lukewarm and wished to spit them out.
  • Cleansed. Romans 6:1-4
  • Rom. 6:1-4. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
  • John MacArthur explains: “This does not refer to water baptism. All Christians have, by placing saving faith in him, been spiritually immersed into the person of Christ, that is, united and identified with him.”
  • If saving faith were of works, a clear reading of Scripture would condemn us all. We are so blessed to have Christ cleanse us from our sins! Let us do all we can to show our thanks to our Great God and Savior, Jesus Christ!!!

Articles

• https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/unfruitful-and-blind/

2 Peter Study Series Lesson 1 Part 2

Lesson 1, Part 2

Last week, we ended with the amazing promise that believers have been all things pertaining to life and Godliness through the Divine Power of Jesus to live the Christian life through the knowledge of God and his calling on our lives. And, Christians are now partakers of God's divine nature through his unbreakable promises. We are children of God, born of His spirit, being conformed to the image of Jesus, being set apart and made holy for His purposes, and one day being able to see him as he is.

This week, we begin our discussion where we left off: we now are asked to practically apply these truths in transformative ways. Peter here assumes that, as Christians, you have faith. It's not something that is conjured up. Faith is the foundation of our promises. According to the writer to the Hebrews, "And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who [diligently] seek him.” It positions us for hope in a present preservation and perseverence and a future glory. So, we are to make every effort, or give diligence to add to our faith, or as the ESV reads, "supplement our faith..." There is a certain part of our growth that will come naturally. However, this "natural growth" can only come from those who are planted by living  water and nourished by good soil. Psalm 119:4 says "Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.” Many translations of Hebrews 11:6 add the word “diligently” in its varying forms to show the intensity with which we are to “work out our salvation.” As Christians, we have Christ's divine power to live the Christian life. That means, we have been given, in the words of Peter Parker's Uncle Ben, "great power and great responsibility." Believers, possessors of faith, those who have been appointed to eternal life by our gracious God have been both given this immense privilege and a weighty job.

• [2Pe 1:5] For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,
• • Because Christ divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, because God has called us to his own glory and excellence, because we have been given his promises in order to become partakers of the divine nature, make every effort (or be diligent) to “be doers of the word and not hearers only.”
  • We are commanded to make every effort to add to our faith. Why? Why are we to supplement, or add to, our faith the qualities listed?
  • • To the uninformed reformer, this would seem to run counter to the reformation. Isn’t it all of grace? Doesn’t “Salvation belong to our God?” Absolutely! However, remember that Peter is talking to believers. Believers have been adopted as children of God.
    • First, we are commanded of God to obey him in the New Testament.
    • • Three times in this book alone we are given specific orders:
      • • 2 Peter 1:10 - confirm our calling and election with diligence
        • 3:14 - be diligent to be found without spot or blemish
        • 3:18 - grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
      • Other passages, clearly written to Gentile Christians like us, which I believe is an important point to be discussed sometime, corroborate those commands:
      • • Phil. 2:12-13 - work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
        • • As Christians, the fear and trembling spoken of here do not regard a fear that makes us worry we will lose our salvation, but a filial fear that does not want to “grieve the Holy Spirit” that has been granted to us as a guarantee of our faith. The Greek Lexicon describes this term “trembling” as a term used to describe the anxiety of one who distrusts his ability completely to meet all requirements, but religiously does his utmost to fulfil his duty.
          • • What came to mind for me was working my dream job - radio! It was short-lived, but it’s fun to say “I used to work in radio.” I was young and dumb, having had, maybe, a year’s previous experience to say I was qualified to sit behind the mic and operate the board. And, while only in retrospect to I see I was totally unprepared for what I had been assigned, as is often the case for the Christian, I wanted to do as much as I could in that office.
            • We have been granted a much greater privilege, to represent the Lord of Glory! Should be considered our dream vocation. And, as such, while we might pander like Moses and claim we have no ability to serve the King, we are called to fulfill our duty and let God deal with the end results
        • Ephesians 4:1. I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.
        • Galatians 5:15. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
    • …which leads me to the second point - believers have been empowered by the Holy Spirit.
    • • John 6:63. It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
      • Eph. 1:13-14. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
      • Eze. 36:26. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
    • And, if anyone still takes umbrage with this, I would encourage you to watch the DVDs, Amazing Grace: The History and Theology of Calvinism.
    • Thirdly, referring to this chapter, because of Jesus. He has forgiven us of our sin. We have, in the words of Peter, escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (not specifically ungodly sexual desire, but all sinful desires). It should be the Christian’s natural response to this good news!
    • Fourth, because we are still sinners in sinful flesh. Though we are positionally forgiven, we will not be perfected until we enter eternal life. In Romans, Paul compares (some would say contrasts) spiritual training with physical training. 
    • • 1 Timothy 4:6-11. If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. Command and teach these things.
      • • Godliness, as opposed to bodily training, maintains this living hope we have for what Christ will do through us now and what we are preparing for in the life to come. In fact, paul says we “toil”  and “strive” (reminds me a bit of Ecclesiastes a bit…doesn’t it?), because our hope is not wishful thinking: it is real! It is going to happen!
        • Tim Challies posted an article from The Guardian regarding the Queen of England’s Christmas addresses, which have recently (as recently as 2010) began to sound very Christian. Let’s face it - she ain’t no spring chicken! Death is nearer to her than it may be to us (God willing!). And, with the decline of Christian morality around her, her messages have begun to become more and more evangelical-sounding. God be praised for her courage and love for the King of Kings.
        • Does this mean we’re always doom and gloom? By no means! However, it does mean that we are honest about our frailty and the spontaneity of death. We do not know when we’ll leave this life. We - and by ‘we’ I mean ‘I’ - should be training for heaven like a 2nd string quarterback trains to take the starter spots. Our training should leave us without spot or blemish.
        • And, again - this is not done outside of the Spirit. It is our very reliance on the Spirit that propels our growth.
        • When we work through the power of Christ’s spirit, it is really Him that is working through us. (Phil. 2:12-13). Peter says later in the next chapter that should we who have escape the world’s pollutions through the knowledge of God and Jesus be drawn back into those lusts through our own desires, through their allurements, our latter end becomes worse than the first.
        • • 1 John 2:15-16. If we still love the world, then the love of the Father is not in us.
    • So, with all this as a backdrop, we can now begin to discuss the order this list occurs. If we have been given faith and all of the above by God, we are to add virtue.
    • • Virtue is described as moral and ethical excellence.
      • • Phil. 4:8 - Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
        • • We are to focus our thoughts, words, and deeds on things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, and excellent.
      • Faith is the foundation, virtue is the structure. If we have faith, if verses 3 and 4 are  true of us, then it will push us to strengthen our resolve to repent towards God (repentance is a turning and a continual turning). Imagine a care that is going the complete opposite direction of its intended destination. The initial repentance would be turning the car around and driving in the right direction. The continual repentance would be those little mid-course corrections we do as drivers to keep the car in the correct lane and following the traffic rules. It’s not about perfection, but direction, to put it cheekily.
    • V. 2 - through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Like I mentioned last week, it’s one thing to believe in god; it’s another thing to believe in the God of the Bible. I am not to practice my moral and ethical excellence through the lease of humanism, Bhuddism, Hinduism, Islam, atheism, Mormonism or even of the Roman church. Why? All of those are systems of works-based righteousness. Jesus grants to us all things, including freedom from works-based righteousness.
    • • Ephesians 1:18. that you may know - know what?! - what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
      • Phil. 1:19 - we are also to know His will.
      • This knowledge helps us to experience that maturation in Christ, becoming men and women of God. The only thing we are to be children/innocent towards is sin. God never says to be naïve in regards to sin. In fact, the Proverbs condemn those who are so naive. Why? That naivety results in falling or diving into a sinful lifestyle. Of course, the converse is true as well - to much knowledge of sin could also cause believers to fall into sin. I am reminded of Jimmy Swaggart. Up unto his fall, members of my extended family followed him closely. One thing they noticed prior to his fall, as well as in retrospect, is that he had an unnatural knowledge of certain kinds of sin, especially that of a sexual nature. This is also dangerous. It takes being grounded in God’s word to find that proper balance.
      • We are to add knowledge to our virtue. If I, as an American, follow the US’s traffic laws in Europe, I will likely cause an accident, be fined, go to jail, or be deported from that country. I must have the right knowledge of the right constitution in order to exercise correct moral excellence.
• [2Pe 1:6] and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,
• We are to add to self-control to our knowledge.
• • Why? Because knowledge puffs up. Knowledge without self-control breeds conceit (sounds like a proverb…or, wait…was I being conceited there?).
  • Another way to say add self-control to knowledge is to “bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” Self-control, called temperance in the King James, is the final fruit listed in Galatians 5.
  • As listed in Titus 1 and 2, leaders are to be sober-minded, self-controlled. We are representatives of the King! Does God run his emotions capriciously and carelessly? When speaking of Michael the Archangel, Jude states that when "contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”
  • This particular element is important, as it relates to how we interact with others. I think of the many evangelists gently, yet consistently sharing the gospel with the Lost. I think of the command to fathers to not drive their sons to exasperation. We are representatives of the King.

We will continue the rest of this verse and the next section in next week's lesson.

2 Peter Study Series Lesson 1 Part 1

The next several entries (with possible exceptions) is from a Sunday School class I am teaching on 2nd Peter.